Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk has asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision to allow double child killer Colin Pitchfork to walk free.
Parole bosses ruled he was safe to be released from prison but now questions have been raised and a review has been requested, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
The Parole Board ruled that Pitchfork, jailed for life for raping and strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986, can be freed.
Initially, he was given a minimum term of 30 years in 1988, but later had it reduced to 28 years for good behaviour and was released in September 2021.
He was back behind bars two months later for breaching the licence conditions of his release.
The Lord Chancellor’s intervention comes after Conservative MP for South Leicestershire Alberto Costa called for the parole decision to be challenged, and a Ministry of Justice source described it as “extremely worrying”.
But what do we know about the killer?
Who is Colin Pitchfork?
Colin Pitchfork is a double child killer who was jailed for life in 1988 for the rape and murder of two teenage girls.
He is famous for being the first person in the world to be caught from the use of DNA evidence.
He was a married man with two sons and worked as a baker and it was heard during his trial how he had left one of his sons sleeping in the back of his car while he raped and killed his first victim.
Following the killing, prosecutors said he had then driven home and put his baby to bed at his home in Littlethorpe.
It was also reported how,- before the killings, he had been convicted of indecent exposure.
Who were his victims?
Pitchfork killed two girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, who were both just 15 years old.
The crimes happened in Leicestershire.
His first victim was Lynda Mann, who was captured by Pitchfork as she walked home from her babysitting job in the Leicestershire village of Narborough on November 21, 1983.
Friends and family spent the night looking for her when she did not return home, but her body was found the next day, dumped on a remote footpath. She had been raped and strangled to death.
Pitchfork was not arrested for that murder until his second victim was found in similar circumstances.
Dawn Ashworth’s body was found after she went missing while walking home from a friend’s house, also in Narborough, in July 1986. She too had been raped and strangled, and her body was dumped in a field hidden under branches.
Initially, a local 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of the deaths. The teenager had learning difficulties and had been friends with Ashworth, but he was later acquitted of any wrongdoing and released after police could find no DNA link.
DNA testing instead led to Pitchfork’s arrest, for both murders.
In trial, he pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of both girls and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years in 1988.
In 2009, he appealed, and his sentence was reduced to 28 years.
When was Colin Pitchfork released from prison?
Pitchfork has made many parole bids for freedom during his time behind bars.
He was denied release in 2016 and 2018 but, in June 2021, it was granted, with parole chiefs ruling that he was no longer a danger to the public.
A month later, in July, he was freed, but it didn’t last long and by September he was back behind bars for breaching the licence conditions of his release.
It was reported that he had been approaching women and displaying “concerning behaviours”.
What is happening now?
Another parole hearing was heard this year, where a board looked at all the evidence and received testimonies from prison staff to consider whether he should remain locked up or be set free.
The board decided Pitchfork was “no longer a risk to the public” and should be freed.
However, Lord Chancellor Chalk says he has grave concerns over the release and has urgently called for the Parole Board to reconsider their decision.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Chalk said: “My thoughts remain with the families of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, whose lives were changed forever by the heinous crimes of Colin Pitchfork.
“My number one priority is public protection and, after careful assessment, I have asked the Parole Board to reconsider their decision to release him.
“It is absolutely vital that every lawful step is taken to keep dangerous offenders behind bars.”
